Dynasty

In conversation with Martin Mortimer some time ago I mentioned that in the course of some background research for a project I had re-read his father Harry (HM's) autobiography, On Brass, and was struck by the possibility of a musical response to what was an extraordinary life. I thought no more about it until a telephone call from Martin a year later, inviting me to take up the challenge. The result is Dynasty, which takes the form of a Symphonic Poem, a musical form frst introduced to a contest audience at the Crystal Palace in 1913 by Percy Fletcher in his work Labour and Love. Using key passages from Harry Mortimer On Brass as the source for the narrative, the work opens with a four-note leitmotif (Harry's theme, “as if descending from the heavens”)

Listeners familiar with brass band repertoire will recognise a few pertinent quotes within the piece. In my imagination Harry is joined by Fred on cornet and the euphoniums of Alex and Rex for the quartet cadenza from Sovereign Heritage by Jack Beaver in Together. The Amen section from Handel's Messiah provides the basis for a contrapuntal fight of fancy as the work moves towards a conclusion. Other less overt fragments contribute to the story. Dynasty has been co-commissioned by the British Open Brass Band Championships for the September 2019 contest, and the Brass Band Committee VLAMO for the Belgian Brass Band Championships 2019.

Peter Graham, May 2019